While Zenit St. Petersburg repeatedly missed good scoring opportunities, Hoffenheim was much better at seizing opportunities.
In the 38th minute, Lu Wenbin finally scored his first goal of the game.
Eduardo's breakthrough caused a foul by the opponent, and Hoffenheim got a free kick opportunity in an excellent position.
Lu Wenbin, who did not use system skills in the previous two free kicks, activated the system's special skills this time and shot the ball directly into the blind corner of Zenit's goal.
Malafeev was out of reach and could only watch the ball go into the net.
Hoffenheim led Zenit St. Petersburg 2-0 in the first half, but this score did not show any sign that Zenit could eliminate Hoffenheim.
With a score of 2-0, both sides entered the halftime break.
After a 15-minute break, the two sides changed sides and the anxious Zenit attacked more fiercely, but there were more loopholes in the backcourt.
Two people were originally required to specifically guard Lu Wenbin, and the full-backs also had to provide assists, so Zenit's defense line would have less defensive pressure on Parjić, Demba Ba, Eduardo and Copado.
In the 68th minute, Eduardo continuously dribbled the ball on the penalty area line and knocked down Zenit defender Anyogov, then passed the ball to Copado who was in the back row and in the open space.
Copado shot the ball near the penalty spot, and the ball went through the penalty area like an arrow and went straight into the goal.
Although Malafeev judged the direction correctly and touched the ball, the distance was too close and the force was too great, so he still couldn't get the ball out.
The ball hit his fingertips and refracted a little, but still flew firmly into the goal of Zenit St. Petersburg.
Hoffenheim led Zenit St. Petersburg 3-0 in the 68th minute, which truly reflected the gap between the Bundesliga's top team and the Russian Premier League team.
After this score appeared, Zenit players finally had some emotional fluctuations.
The warlike polar bear warriors had to doubt whether they could eliminate Hoffenheim.
Advocaat on the sidelines also looked grim and felt a little desperate.
With the departure of Arshavin and other core players of the golden generation, Zenit's strength has indeed declined severely.
The team that eliminated Bayern Munich 5-1 and eventually won the championship last year was easily beaten 3-0 by Hoffenheim, which was full of injuries, in just 70 minutes. How could they show any sign of defending the title
However, Advocaat had no choice. He couldn't just surrender, right
There are precedents in the history of European competitions where a team lost by three goals away from home but successfully turned the tables after returning home. The most famous one was the match between La Liga Deportivo La Coruna and AC Milan in the 2003/2004 Champions League quarter-finals.
Deportivo La Coruna lost 1-4 to AC Milan in the first round away from home, losing by three goals.
But after returning to the home court in the second round, Deportivo La Coruña gave AC Milan a 4-0 victory, successfully turned the tables and sent the super giant AC Milan home.
Therefore, Zenit was not completely sentenced to death.
If they can score an away goal and keep the score 3-1 until the end, Zenit only needs a 2-0 victory to eliminate Hoffenheim after returning to their home court.
That's more hopeful.
So, Advocaat shouted at the players to continue attacking and try to score an away goal.
Of course, Hoffenheim couldn't score any more goals in the backcourt. If there were not enough players, they would use running to support the defense.
Advocaat asked all players to increase their running range and immediately counterattack after losing the ball in the frontcourt. Even if they could not get the ball, they had to delay Hoffenheim's counterattack.
Since Bayern Munich pioneered the tactic of double-marking Lu Wenbin and set an example for other teams, Lu Wenbin's number of goals has indeed dropped a lot, but it is not completely gone.
No one can really stick to Lu Wenbin for 90 minutes and not allow him to get a single shot.
In addition to free kicks, Lu Wenbin was also looking for goals in open play in this game.
Although he has already scored a free kick, he can be upgraded as long as he maintains the victory until the end of the game, but the experience of the League Cup is too high, and scoring one more goal will give him 40,000 experience points.
What's more, if it's 3-0, there is still a risk of the opponent returning to their home court to overturn the game, but if it's 4-0, Zenit will be doomed.
Therefore, Zenit intensified its running and Lu Wenbin did not stop.
Anyway, he will definitely be promoted after this game, and the physical fitness problem will be solved, so there is no need to cherish it.
When Zenit still failed to score a goal despite Lu Wenbin's continuous running, Lu Wenbin finally ran into an opening and got a good chance to shoot.
In the 82nd minute, Lu Wenbin suddenly changed direction near the corner of the penalty area to shake off the defender and created a short gap, and Eduardo, who cooperated well with him, passed the ball to him at the right time.
Before the opponent's defender cleared the ball, Lu Wenbin shot the ball without stopping. The ball drew a faint arc in the air, just bypassing the fingers of Malafeev who jumped to save the ball, and went into the blind corner of the goal.
Lu Wenbin scored twice and led Hoffenheim to a 4-0 lead over Zenit St. Petersburg at home. This score was enough to declare the second round of the game no longer suspenseful.
Afterwards, Ralph replaced Demba Ba with defensive midfielder Walsa, changing the formation to 442 with double defensive midfielders to strengthen the defense.
As for Lu Wenbin, he has to stay on the field to continue to contain the opponent's defense line.
Although Zenit players tried their best to attack in the last ten minutes, Ralph's timely change of formation played a crucial role. Walsa sacrificed himself to block the bullet hole and blocked the opponent's heavy artillery fire.
After 3 minutes of stoppage time, the referee blew the whistle to end the game. Hoffenheim defeated the defending champion Zenit St. Petersburg 4-0 at home in the first round of the UEFA Cup round of 16.
When the game ended, the entire Rhine-Neckar Arena erupted in warm applause and cheers.
The commentator of the German sports TV also announced: "The game is over. Hoffenheim, led by captain Lu Wenbin, defeated the defending champion Zenit St. Petersburg 4-0 at home, basically declaring that the second round has lost suspense. Zenit must score at least 4 goals after returning to their home court, and prevent Hoffenheim from scoring any goals, in order to have a chance to drag the game into a penalty shootout and eliminate Hoffenheim. But for Zenit St. Petersburg, which has lost core players of the golden generation such as Arshavin, this is a difficult task to accomplish. Therefore, we can announce that Hoffenheim has advanced to the quarterfinals ahead of schedule."
Indeed, anyone who watched this game and saw this score would no longer have any hope for Zenit St. Petersburg to make a comeback.
Even the Russian TV commentator concluded with disappointment: "Zenit St. Petersburg lost 0-4 to Hoffenheim away from home, without even a single away goal. To advance to the quarterfinals, we can only hope for a miracle to happen."